Tuition assistance cuts leave Marines to use GI Bill

Thursday

Mar 14, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The Marine Corps tuition assistance program is a thing of the past now that sequestration is in full swing, leaving many service members to use their G.I. Bill’s to pay for school while on active duty.

THOMAS BRENNAN - Daily News Staff

The Marine Corps tuition assistance program is a thing of the past now that sequestration is in full swing, leaving many service members to use their G.I. Bill’s to pay for school while on active duty.

“Tuition assistance offered me a way to get ahead on my education without dipping into my G.I. bill,” Cpl. David Hanson said. “My standings as a Marine also were elevated as my command recognized I was making legitimate self-improvement efforts.”

The Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, said that the Corps will stop enrolling personnel in the tuition assistance program — a program in use by thousands of Marines seeking their college degrees. That leaves troops to either use their G.I. Bills to pay for school or wait until they are discharged to obtain an education.

For Hanson, 25, of Rockville, Md. and an assaultman with 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, tuition assistance has been how he has been working toward a bachelor’s degree in homeland security while maintaining his career.

“I won’t be able to do it again,” Hanson said. “And that is frustrating. It wasn’t a benefit I was aware of when I enlisted, but tuition assistance has definitely been part of my long-term education plan.”

Hanson says tuition assistance offered more than fiscal assistance.

“Who wouldn’t love their employer to pay for a basic post high school education?” Hanson said. “To have this benefit cited to you as a reason for joining, to use it and really recognize its worth, it’s definitely upsetting that it’s being taken away. It’s free money fiscally in exchange for just being in the military.

“It was a perk, a good reason to join. With tuition assistance gone it’s going to arrest the progress of potentially excellent scholars, minds for business down the road and demoralize those who signed up for this advantage.”

There will be negative implications of this decision, said Hanson.

“There’s simply going to be more military personnel sitting on their hands waiting to get out instead of educating themselves and remaining in the military,” Hanson said.

With plans to stay in the Corps, Hanson will be one of many who will finish their careers and then pursue their education in order to reap the full benefits of the G.I. Bill, such as book and housing allowances.

“If you look at the goal of the Marine Corps, it’s to make good Marines, in turn making more productive citizens when they get out,” Hanson said. “Due to these cuts it’s taking away from being a smarter Marine and a more educated civilian.

“And by being a scholar while you’re in, you make it easier to transition back into the civilian world, which is a major concern during the draw-down.”